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Leonardo Cortés
"Here's to, Premier Leonardo Cortés, Supreme Leader of the Spanish Empire, Second Coming of Philip Clemente the Fifth, and to the sword I shoved in his back." ~Prince Ezequiel Clemente Leonardo Cortés (June 6th, 1722--July 25th, 1750) was the Premier of Spain during the short-lived Nationalist Era. He was known among the people of Spain for his cruelty, antagonism, deceitfulness, and his devious, manipulative nature, and was the most universally hated leader in the history of the Spanish Empire. Biography Little is known of the early life of Leonardo Cortés, but it is known that he had a noble upbringing under the Noble House of Cortés, and that he was a descendant of the legendary Spanish Conquistador, Hernan Cortés. He claimed to have fought in the Paradoxian Wars under King Philip Clemente V and claimed to be a member of the Ranger Order, but these claims were debunked and proven to be false by official Spanish records. Cortés rose to power in May of 1750, ending the Recessive Era of Spain. He offered King Ferdinand Clemente VI a proposition in which they would share equal power in the nation of Spain. In return, Leonardo promised that he would bring Spain out of its recession and into a glorious new era of prosperity. Ferdinand accepted the offer, and the Spanish Syndicate was established. At first, it looked as though Leonardo would be a phenomenal leader for the nation of Spain. However, soon, problems would begin to arise. The issues started when Leonardo insisted upon harboring Samuel Clemente II, even giving him the position of Secretary of State, despite the fact that he had committed treason against the Kingdom of the Swiss by leaking classified Swiss documents and nearly sparking a war between Switzerland and Denmark-Norway. This caused Spanish-Swiss relations to sour immensely, to the point where a war almost occurred between the two nations during an event known as the June Crisis, though such a colossal blunder was later averted during peace talks following Samuel's apparent suicide. Not long after the June Crisis, Leonardo Cortés caused relations with the British Empire to sour. He grew increasingly antagonistic towards the British, slandering the names of high-ranking British officials and defaming the good name of Great Britain itself, promoting anti-British propaganda. Over time, he seized more and more power from King Ferdinand, until the king had no power at all, and was not even allowed to speak to his own grandfather. Public opinion regarding Leonardo Cortés began to drop at this point. However, the more power he seized, the more wild and derelict he became in his duties. He began focusing his time on his many attempts at elicit affairs with a multitude of women in Spain, and allegedly a homosexual relationship with Vice Premier Baron Tierras-Cruzadas, rather than attending to his job as the nation's leader. This was recognized by Prince Ezequiel Clemente, who would immediately leave his station in the Kingdom of Haven to join Spain. After Premier Cortés fired Hannibal Bush from his role as Secretary of State of the Spanish Syndicate, he promoted Ezequiel to fill the spot that Bush had occupied. Using his new station, Ezequiel secretly improved his relations, and the relations of Spain, with the British Empire, and began to gain a following among the people of Spain. With his older brother, Ezequiel conspired to overthrow the tyrannical Premier, and fully restore the Spanish monarchy. Shortly after the Prince was promoted, Leonardo ordered the genocide of one-fifth of the population of Spain for being "unproductive citizens," and that was the very last straw. The Clemente brothers rallied the people of Spain against Cortés, and, when called to converse with the Premier on political matters on July 25th, 1750, Prince Ezequiel Clemente ran his sword through Leonardo's back and tossed him from the balcony of the Spanish palace in Cádiz, ending the short reign of Premier Leonardo Cortés and the Nationalist Era of Spain, abolishing the Spanish Syndicate and restoring the Spanish monarchy permanently under the rule of King Ferdinand Clemente VI, beginning the Monarchic Era of Spain.